Apparatus for dumping cars



March 29, 1949. L. H. WHITE 2,465,502

APPARATUS FOR DUMPING CARS Filed July 17, 1945 5 sheet 1 R 9} & l y

a Q N H N 9 i March 29, 1949. H. NHlTE 2,465,502

APPARATUS FOR DUMPING CARS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 17', 1945 awe/mm March 29, 1949. H. wHnE 2,465,502

} APPARATUS FOR DUMPING CARS Filed July 17, 1945 I 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 March 29, 1949. L./H. WHITE APPARATUS FOR DUMPING CARS 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed July 17,, 1945 March 29, 1949. 1.. H. WHITE 2,465,502

APPARATUS FOR DUMPING CARS Filed July 17, 1945 v 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Mar. 29, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for dumping cars and more particularly to apparatus in which a loaded car, such as a railway car, mine car, etc., is lifted bodily and partially inverted to discharge its contents.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a novel apparatus of the above type which is of relatively simple but strong and rigid construction.

Another object is to provide novel means for supporting the car over substantially the entire area of one side thereof as it is lifted and partially inverted,

A further object is to provide novel means for engaging and holding the car to prevent it from sliding from its side support when tilted through an angle greater than 90.

Still another object is to provide novel engagingand holding means which operate automatically as the car is lifted and partially inverted and which release automatically as the car is returned to normal position.

Other objects will appear more fully hereinafter as the description of the invention proceeds.

One embodiment of the invention has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but it is to be expressly understood that said drawings are for purposes of illustration only and are not to be construed as a definition of the limits of the invention, reference being had to the appended claims for this purpose.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the apparatus;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the apparatus;

Fig. 4 is an end view of the apparatus showing a car in place as the operation of lifting begins; and

Fig. 5 is an end view showing the apparatus with the car in dumping position.

The apparatus comprises an open substantially tubular framework into which a car can be run, which framework is mounted to rotate on its longitudinal axis in one direction to invert the loaded car to the dumping position and in the other direction to restore the empty car to normal position. In the form shown, the frame comprises two large rollers or wheels I one adjacent each end of the frame, which may suitably be of built-up welded or riveted construction. These wheels are mounted for rotation on a common horizontal axis in any suitable manner, as by pairs of grooved bearing rollers 2, and are connected together in an integral framework by longitudinally extending tubular struts or columns 3, here shown as three in number, as well as by other frame structure described hereinafter. Hence the frame is capable of rotation about the common horizontal axis of the wheels I.

In the form shown, the peripheries of the wheels I are provided with projecting tracks 4 which run in the grooves in the rollers 2 as shown in Fig. 2. However, the tracks 4 need extend only far enough around the wheels to provide for the desired amount of rotation of the frame, and in the normal position shown in Fig. 3, they extend around the left-hand side of the wheels and over the top and under the bottom, but are discontinued on the right-hand side. Rotation to dumping position takes place counterclockwise and may have a maximum of about 180 although this amount may not be necessary. On return rotation clockwise to normal position, the movement of the frame is stopped by bumpers 5 which are pivoted to the wheels at 6, the bumpers engaging in the grooves of the rollers 2 and being backed up by buffer springs I carried by brackets 8 mounted on the wheels. These bumpers are at or near the ends of the tracks 4, being arranged to stop rotation before the tracks 4 run out of the right-hand rollers.

Suitable means for rotating the frame are shown by way of example in Figs. 1 and 3. Spiral cable tracks 9 extend around the peripheries of the wheels I, leading away from cable fasteners ill in a clockwise direction and around the wheels to cable fasteners ll. Cables l2 run from the fasteners I!) over the tops of the wheels in the tracks 9 and then to and around cable drums l3 and back under and around the wheels in the tracks 9 to the fasteners H. Thus depending on the direction of rotation of the drums, the frame can be rotated in both directions. The drums may be driven by gearing I 4 and shafts l5 from a gear box l6 which in turn is driven by chain or belt l! and electric motor l8.

The car to be dumped, illustrated diagrammatically at I9, is run into the frame on tracks carried by a supporting framework which as shown comprises longitudinal I-beams 2i connected transversely by ties 22. One or both of the tracks 20 may have safety guide rails 23 associated therewith. A footboard 24 may extend between the tracks for convenience.

The entire assembly of the tracks 20 and their supporting framework 2!, 22 is suspended from the rotating frame in such a manner that it is capable of swinging laterally as the frame starts to rotate for a purpose described below. To this end transverse beams 25 are provided at each wheel l, the longitudinal track framework 20, 2| resting on and being supported by these beams. The beams are suspended at each end by links 25 pivoted to the beams at 27 and to the Wheels l at 28. When the loaded car is run into the frame as shown in Fig. 3 and the frame starts to rotate, the beams 25 swing laterally until the side of the car engages a pad 29 of wood or the like which is rigidly attached to the rotating frame. At the same time, however, the beams tilt with the frame, maintaining the side of the car parallel with the surface of the pad as it comes into engagement therewith. The lateral movement of the car into engagement with the pad is small and is completed within a small initial rotation of the frame. As the rotation of the car continues to the position shown in Fig. the weight of the car and contents is carried by the pad, the car thus lying on its side.

Any suitable means may be provided for mounting the pad 29 on the rotating frame, and this means may also serve to tie the wheels l together and supplement the struts 3 mentioned above. As shown, three parallel vertically spaced I-beams 35 extend horizontally along one side of the frame, being tied together in any suitable manner as by the vertical angles 35, and the entire frame structure being secured to the wheels i and any suitable manner as by welding or riveting. This frame structure carries the pad 29 which is preferably continuous throughout most of the length of the car but may be inter rupted where desirable so as to comprise spaced elements 32 (Fig. 1).

It will be seen that the pad 29 and tracks support the car until it has rotated through 90, but that on further rotation the car would tend to slide off the pad (see Fig. 5), and hence it is necessary to hold the top of the partly inverted car to prevent such sliding movement. By the time 90 of rotation have been accomplished, however, all of the weight has been taken off the car springs. Clamps can now be brought into and locked in engagement with the top of the car to hold it during further rotation to dumping position as illustrated by Fig. 5, and as soon as the car returns to the 90 rotation on reverse rotation, there will no longer be any strain on the clamps and they can be released easily. Thus it is possible to use clamps which move into and out of engagement with the car due to the action of gravity as the frame rotates, as by means of simple counterweights, together with weighted pawls which are effective to lock the clamps only when the amount of rotation of the frame is greater than 90 and which come into and go out of action automatically as an incident to the rotation.

In the form shown, such clamps are used on both sides of the car and adjacent each end, there being four clamps in all, but for some purposes it may not be necessary to clamp both sides, while on the other hand the number of clamps on a side is a matter of choice. On the left-hand side of the car, two clamping mechanisms are carried by the framework 39, 3! which supports the pad 28, one clamp being near each wheel I. These mechanisms and their action are illustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. The clamp 33 is supported at two pivot points 35, 35 by parallel links 35 and 3'! which in turn are pivoted at 38 and 39 on the frame. The upper link 35 has an extension 40 beyond the pivot 38 which carries a weight 4| operative to move the clamp 33 up and down through the parallel linkage as described below.

lhe upper link 35 also has an arcuate lower arm 52 extending to and secured to the weight 4 I, this lower arm carrying a rack bar 43. Preferably the rack bar comprises two parallel rows of teeth which are engaged by pawls M, 55 pivoted on the frame at $5, l'i respectively, and having weighted tails 48, 19 respectively. It is advantageous to offset the noses of the two pawls by one-half of the distance between teeth which permits finer adjustment with the use of larger coarser teeth.

When the apparatus is in the normal position shown in Fig. 3, the weight ll tends to lift the clamp 33, and the pawls are lifted fro-m the rack bar by their tails d8, 49. This condition continues as the frame rotates, and until the center of gravity of the weight comes below the axis of the pivot 38. Thereafter the action of the weight is reversed and tends to bring the clamp down against the top of the car, the rack bar 63 moving under the pawls which are still held out of engagement with the rack bar by their weighted tails. Thus the clamps are brought. into engagement with the car, but are not locked until at about of rotation one or the other of the pawls drops into engagement with the rack bar to lock the clamp in position. The clamp remains locked throughout further rotation to the dumping position of Fig. 5 and return rotation past the 90 position where the pawl is automatically released, the weight then lifting the clamp to the position shown in Fig. 1.

A similar clamping arrangement is shown for the opposite side of the car, but here the arrangement of the weights is different to avoid a weight swinging out over the car. A frame is built up between two of the struts 3 by means of a pair of spaced bent columns 50 in order to support the clamp 5i and its operating mecha nisln. The clamp is carried by a parallel linkage comprising a lower link 52 pivoted to the clamp at 53 and between the columns at 54, and by an upper link 55 pivoted to the clamp at 56 and between the columns at 51. An extension of the upper link carries a weight 53 which tends to raise the clamp 5| to the position shown in Fig. 3. It will be seen from Figs. 4 and 5. however, that this weight 58, unlike the weight 4|, does not function also to lower the clamp into engagement with the car as the frame rotates. This result is accomplished by a pair of weights 59 hung on the outer ends of a shaft 55 having bearings in the columns 59. In the position shown in Fig. 3, these weights hang below the aXis of the shaft and have little or no effect in opposing the action of the weight 58. As the frame rotates, however. the weights 59 tend to rotate the shaft in a clockwise direction and this rotation is communicated through a rock arm 5! and link 52 to the upper parallel link 55. As the frame rotates, the effectiveness of the weight 58 decreases while the efiectiveness of the weights 59 increases so that the latter weights operate the linkage to move the clamp downwardly into engagement with the car.

As the clamp 5| moves into engagement with the top of the car and the rotation of the frame;

reaches 90, the clamp is locked by a rack and pawl arrangement like that described above. A curved bar 63 is mounted on the link 55 between the columns 50 and carries a rack bar (it preferably having two rows of teeth as described above. Two pawls 65 and 66 are pivoted at 5'! and 68 respectively between brackets 69 secured to the columns '59 and are provided with weighted tails 2'9 and i l. As the frame passes the 90 point in its rotation, these weighted tails swing the pawls into and out of engagement with the rack bar E i depending on the direction of rotation.

The operation will be clear from the foregoing description and may be summarized as follows. The loaded car is run into position in the frame and the frame rotated. The beams 29 carrying the rails and car first swing laterally to bring the side of the car into engagement with the pad 29, and as rotation continues the car lies on its side and is carried by the pad. At or near the 90 point in the rotation of the frame, the clamps 33 and 5! are brought automatically into engagement with the top of the car by their respective weights. Since this is not a positive clamping, however, the exact point of engagement is not critical. As rotation continues past 99, however, the pawls fall into engagement with the rack bars and effectively lock the clamps in place during dumping. On the other hand, when the empty car returns to the 90 position on reverse rotation, the pawls are automatically lifted and not limited thereto but is susceptible of various mechanical forms, while various changes may also be made in the details of construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit of the invention. Reference should therefore be had to the appended claims for a definition of the limits of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a rotary car dumper, a clamp movable toward and away from the top of a car in said dumper, clamp actuating means comprising a lever and a pendulous counterweight holding said clamp away from the car top when the dumper is in car receiving position and moving it into engagement with the car top while the dumper is rotating approximately 99, a double rack movable with said clamp, and a pair of weighted locking pawls constructed and arranged to move into engagement with said rack after the dumper rotates past 90, the noses of the pawls being offset so that one engages the top of a tooth on one side of the rack when the other engages the bottom of a tooth on the other side of the rack.

2. In a rotary car dumper, a clamp movable toward and away from the top of a car in said dumper, a clamp-actuating lever pivoted on the dumper and carrying a pendulous counterweight at one end, the other end of said lever being connected to said clamp, said lever holding the clamp away from the car top when said dumper is in car receiving position and moving it into engageoil ment with the car top while the dumper is rotating approximately 90, a pivotally mounted arcuate rack connected to rotate with said lever, a pivoted locking pawl for said rack, and a weight normally holding said pawl away from the rack and operative to move it toward said rack only when said dumper rotates past 90.

3. In a rotary car dumper, a clamp movable toward and away from the top of a car in said dumper, a clamp actuating lever pivoted intermediate its ends on said dumper, a pendulous counterweight connected to one arm of said lever, its other arm being pivotally connected to said clamp, a link pivotally connected to the dumper and clamp and forming a parallel linkage with said other arm of the lever, an arcuate racl: pivotally mounted on the dumper and connected to rotate with said lever, a pivoted locking pawl for said rack, and a weight normally holding said pawl away from the rack and operative to move it toward said rack only when said dumper rotates past 99.

4. In a rotary car dumper, a clamp movable toward and away from the top of a car in said dumper, a clamp actuating lever pivoted intermediate its ends on said dumper, a pendulous counterweight connected to one arm of said lever, its other arm being pivotally connected to said clamp, a link pivotally connected to the dumper and clamp and forming a parallel linkage with said other arm of the lever, a double arcuate racl; pivotally mounted on the dumper and connected to rotate with said lever, a pair of pivoted locking pawls for said rack having their noses 'ofiset so that one engages the top of a tooth on one side of the rack. when the other engages the bottom of a tooth on the other Side of the rack, and weights normally holding said pawls away from the rack and operative to move them toward said rack only when said dumper rotates past 90.

LEONARD H. WHITE.

JKi-ENCES CITED he following references are of record in the 

